Note: I’m not casting all Republicans as a “skin of evil” here; I feel many of them are just people trying to make their way in the world whose daily struggles and fears have been amplified manipulated by the “skin of evil”, an administration that constantly denies human rights and demonizes (as well as convinces its followers to partake in the demonization of) people who, for the most part, are also just trying to make their way in the world. I’ve known Republicans, and while the people they give their support to frighten me, most of the ones I’ve know aren’t demons.
I’ve known Republicans, and while the people they give their support to frighten me, most of the ones I’ve know aren’t demons.
I take issue with this. Most Republicans have friends, family, and loved ones. A lot of them simply believe that whatever they’re advocating for with their vote won’t happen to them or won’t happen to “the good ones.” Critical thought ended with an ideal and when the consequences finally come, when they’re finally felt, do they realize they laid the dominos that toppled onto them.
It’s an unsettling thought, but a fair portion of the country are friends or family with people who can’t realize they’re hurting others. Just because the Republican is nice to you / others in public doesn’t mean they don’t privately have problems with or hate people who look/think like you and vote against those people.
I agree with all your points. I don’t deny or absolve them of their wrong; they should very much be aware they’re hurting people.
My definition of “demon” is Hitler/Stalin/Mao/Pinoche level, and despite the evil they do and the fact that they collectively enable “demons”, I don’t think they themselves rise to that level of evil. There are shades of gray.
I agree on shades of gray. Some are downright evil and malicious, others are uninformed, misinformed, or honestly too stupid or ignorant to care.
I just, at times, find it really difficult to care about the difference between a voter who wanted a white ethnostate, a voter who “only wanted to get rid of the bad ones,” and a lifelong Republican. All of their votes led to this authoritarian, you know?
Yeh, I feel that. As much as I try to be hippy here, I can’t disagree with that.
Can’t tolerate the intolerant.
They don’t deserve a right to coexist, because they’re actively working against other’s right to coexist
Yes and no. I think some people are intolerant out of true hatred and will choose to always act in bad faith. It is difficult to think of how they could coexist.
But also, a lot of people are just intolerant because they don’t actually know the people they’re hurting, only what they’ve been told. If they actually got to know the people their vote affects, they might have second thoughts - maybe not change their votes, but at the least be more prepared to live in a tolerant society. Automatically taking away this sector of the intolerant’s “right to coexist” (assuming this is an accurate interpretation of your point - I don’t intend to sealion, so correct me if I’m wrong) denies them the opportunity to learn and evolve as people and turns us into the intolerant in a sense.
This does not absolve them of their wrong, this does not mean we don’t take concrete action against intolerance in society (and unfortunately, sometimes it does mean taking away people’s “right to coexist” if they refuse to coexist, although we should avoid it as much possible), and this does not mean these people shouldn’t face the consequences of their actions.
Honestly, I often very angry about the intolerant, and part of me wants to feel they’ve renounced their humanity (the good part, anyway) in some sense, but at the end of the day I have to remind myself such thoughts are not conducive to building a good society (that is, assuming we still have a chance for one, which is not a given).
It is difficult to think of how they could coexist.
By not being dicks…
It’s that easy, to coexist they just need to stop being dicks. And the way to get them to stop being dicks, is by being dicks to them.
When it’s everyone against a couple dicks, they’re pressured to at least fake being decent.
Let them go wild, and normal people see there’s no consequences to being a dick, and they act like dicks too.
It’s insanely simple. Everyone just needs to agree that as long as no one is harming anyone else, it’s cool. And the only thing that’s not cool, is fucking with someone else.
When I say, “It is difficult to think of how they could coexist”, I mean if they refuse to be kind and coexist with others, meaning that they’ve truly refused to coexist and thus renounced that right.
I agree there need to be consequences for being horrid, I just think human rights need to be considered in those consequences as not to become horrid.
Also, I sort of view human civilization as a whole through the lens of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. In many ways, we’re still in the pre-conventional stage where we still behave based on punishment and reward, and for humanity to survive long term (if we can), we need to strive as a society towards the post-conventional stage where we are largely beyond pain and punishment. We will likely never attain the post-conventional stage much like a circle can never be perfectly round, but we must approach it the best we can.
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